Things You Need to Know: Lobster Emoji is Coming

Dunkin’ Donuts is going to stop using foam cups. WMTW reports Dunkin' plans to have them phased out by 2020.

MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta is reducing services at its Diabetes and Nutrition Center. The Bangor Daily News reports it is because reimbursement rates don’t cover the cost. The hospital has lost about $500,000 per year since it added endocrinology services five years ago.

From the Associated Press:

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Public health officials in Maine say there has been an increase in syphilis cases, mirroring a national trend. According to the Maine Center for Disease Control, the number of syphilis cases reported in the state increased from 48 in 2016 to 84 last year. The number of national syphilis cases increased by 18 percent in between 2015 and 2016. Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman tells the Bangor Daily News the department isn't sure why syphilis has increased in recent years. Portland Public Health Center medical director Dr. Christina DeMatteo believes opioid use and waning concerns about HIV have contributed to attitudes about having unprotected sex. Public health advocates say budget cuts resulting in changes in prevention and treatment have also affected rates in the state.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is challenging the legality of the state Medicaid program's ban against covering abortions. ACLU legal director Zach Heiden said Maine has established policy that allows women to decide for themselves whether to continue a pregnancy. But a Cumberland County Superior Court decision said that federal law prohibits the use of federal dollars to cover abortions except in extreme circumstances.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A proposal to search for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf will be the subject of a pair of public meetings in northern New England next month. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is hosting meetings about the proposal all over the country this winter. The meetings follow up on an executive order from April 2017 by President Donald Trump entitled "Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy."

SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) — A St. Albans man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for killing his uncle. Jeremy Erving was sentenced Wednesday in Somerset County Superior Court after pleading guilty in the 2016 death of 53-year-old Randy Erving. Police say Erving killed his uncle after the two were drinking.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian cyberspies pursuing sensitive U.S. defense technology tricked key contract workers into exposing their email to theft. That's according to an Associated Press investigation. The hackers known as Fancy Bear went after at least 87 people working on militarized drones, missiles, rockets, stealth fighter jets, cloud-computing platforms or other sensitive activities. The people worked at small companies and defense giants like Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co., Boeing Co. and Airbus Group.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Text messages between two FBI officials that have been reviewed by The Associated Press show they spoke admiringly of the FBI director at the time, James Comey. The text messages were provided by the Justice Department to Congress. The discovery of anti-Trump text messages between the FBI officials led to the reassignment of one of them from special counsel Robert Mueller's team. The messages are part of an inspector general investigation into the handling of the Hillary Clinton email inquiry.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of hard-right House conservatives opposes the massive bipartisan budget deal emerging in Congress, but the group's leader says he expects it to pass anyway because of increases in defense and other spending that will appeal to many lawmakers. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said his Freedom Caucus will continue to fight. But, he says he's afraid "it will be a Christmas tree of spending _ that a lot of votes will be bought."

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a Guatemalan man in a drunken-driving crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and his Uber driver. Marion County prosecutors on Wednesday charged 37-year-old Manuel Orrego-Savala with four felony counts for the early Sunday crash along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Charges include causing death while driving intoxicated. He's twice been deported and was living illegally in the U.S. at the time of the crash.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The world's first space sports car is cruising toward the asteroid belt, well beyond Mars. SpaceX chief Elon Musk confirms the new, more distant route for his rocketing Tesla Roadster, hours after Tuesday's inaugural launch of the company's Falcon Heavy. Musk says the firing of the upper stage put his red convertible into a solar orbit that now stretches all the way to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.